According to his new head coach, Guerschon Yabusele is going through a steep learning curve, and it seems that way.
The 29-year-old Yabusele has struggled to find his feet this season while rotating in the frontcourt, with his minutes in Monday’s loss to the Wizards looking particularly awkward.
Yabusele is the Knicks’ biggest offseason acquisition after signing as a $12 million free agent, and at 6-foot-4, is a natural power forward but strong enough to play center.
Against the Wizards, he was unexpectedly thrust into the starting center spot after Ariel Hukporti was ruled out due to an illness, before being outplayed by former draft bust Marvin Bagley III.
The Knicks were outscored by 33 points in Yabusele’s 23 minutes.
“I thought it was a great opportunity for him to get some time at the center position,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “It’s hard for him and he was thinking a little bit too much, what’s going to happen. And it kind of brought his game to a standstill in other areas. I thought the second half, his energy, his activity, was a lot better. He started to feel a little more comfortable in the second half, but it’s going to be a bit of a learning curve for him.”
Brown has said that Yabusele and Karl-Anthony Towns – who also play both frontcourt positions – have the most on their plate in the new system “because they basically have to know all five positions and read and react to a conceptual offense.”
Yabusele, who is averaging 4.5 points in 16 minutes on 33 percent shooting in the preseason, said his biggest adjustment is the pace.
He weighs 265 pounds and carries a big frame for Brown’s speedball system.
“Certainly, it’s quite big [of a learning curve] on offense,” he said, “and I also like to run, so the biggest key for me was to just run all the time, try to run to the basket to try to tire the other teams.”
After successive poor defensive possessions from Yabusele in Monday’s second quarter – when he was beaten through the back door and then caught out of position when taken off the dribble – Brown took the Frenchman out for a quick chat.
Yabusele was sent back about 40 seconds later.
“We had a conversation about what happened in the game,” Yabusele said. “We talked about a situation that was going on and what he wanted me to do better.”
After all, preseason is a good time to flatten the learning curve.
“I’m really trying to be as focused as I can and see every detail to make sure I’m in the right place,” Yabusele said. “For me it’s a new team with new guys, so I’m really trying to fit into the system and be a solution, not a problem.”
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